I was thrown for a loop not that long ago when a colleague in the virtual assistant industry asked what hours I kept.

I almost answered, “All of them”. (In hindsight, I should have! I mean, come on, when it’s your own business – especially, I would assume, when running it out of your home, aren’t we always working? Aren’t we always, “on”? Aren’t we always mere steps away from hopping back to it?  But I digress….)

“I work intermittently throughout the day”.

I was greeted with silence. And I was surprised by that. So I piped up again, “I work in chunks of time throughout the day”.

“You mean you’re not glued do your desk like the rest of us?”

And finally, cheekily, “No, I would die.”

See, I’m more productive when I work this way. I’m more focused, I’m faster, I have more clarity, I’m sharper. I’m more creative, I’m recharged, I’m energetic. My body hurts less (I mean hunched over the laptop, slouched, squinting?  OUCH!), my eyes hurt less, my BRAIN hurts less!

And I’m a hell of a lot more fun to be around than when I’ve been working for 8 to 10 (or more) hours straight.

Then 16 months ago I had a baby. Went from being an Entrepreneur to being a Mompreneur overnight (well, actually it was over 55 hours… but that’s another story…).  So thank goodness I was used to this work style, because I had to work intermittently. I had to schedule client calls around nap times (and hope he didn’t wake up screaming, lol!) and child care days. Had to stop everything because it was story time. Had to shut down the laptop at 4pm to start clean up and supper. And had to save that email I was in the middle of writing to Drafts because my kid is so darn cute that I just had to run over and give him a million kisses and hugs.

So yeah, this “punctuated workday” works well for me. Heck, it works extremely well. And for my business model. And especially for my clients. I’m blessed with these amazing clients and customers who get it, who gel with it (or just don’t care!).

Not every day is like this. Take today for example. I’m holed up in my office finishing up a project and starting two more. I’ve been at it for 5 hours and am going for another few. Hey, if a client needs me to be there, I’m there. If I have a deadline on a huge project, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m not away from the computer much. I take a day or 2 a week for this kind of  marathon, but the other 5 days?

Is when the magic happens. Is when the creativity flows. Is when new products are created. Is when productivity increases. Is when new relationships are built. Is when clients join the Scratchpad Secretaries family. Is when I move and shake and make things happen – for me, but more importantly, for my clients. It’s when I’m at my best. It’s when I’m ON!

It just works for me.

And apparently it makes a lot of sense.

How do you work? What works best for yourself, your lifestyle, your business model? Leave me a comment, I can’t wait to hear!

Filed under: Business Model, Organization